Cu Scrap Market Price Keeps Flat in Potential Weakness in Tokyo

Copper scrap market price stayed flat around Tokyo on Friday. Overseas copper market prices decreased on Thursday and then the domestic indicator of JX Nippon Mining & Metals’ electrolytic copper selling price was likely to decrease by 5,000-10,000 yen per tonne against current 650,000 yen per tonne. Scrap dealers around Tokyo kept their purchasing prices unchanged while the market tone weakened mainly for brass based scrap due to weak demand.

As for copper based scrap, the market price was 570-580 yen per kilogram for no.1 copper wire, 545-555 yen for no.1 heavy copper, 515-525 yen for no.2 heavy copper and 465-475 yen for lower grade scrap used by smelters with above 95% copper content.

Scrap generation maintains very little. One major scrap dealer said they can collect enough volume of no.1 copper wire at above 580 yen. Another major dealer pointed out scrap supply is especially short for no.1 heavy copper or new cutting brass scrap when copper alloy fabricators’ factories are in low operations for sheet and strip products.

Exporting scrap market price also turned weak by 5 yen per kg. The market price was around 345 yen for non-shredded brass based mix scrap, with relatively less iron and stainless steel, and around 220 yen for thin electric wire scrap with insulator (containing copper at 43-45%). Chinese scrap importers need to renew their trade licenses in December and then orders to Japanese scrap is temporarily decreasing, said one Japanese exporter source. Japanese scrap exporters show little interest in high offer prices.